Thursday, August 03, 2017

Former NSW Labor ministers Eddie Obeid, Joe Tripodi and Tony Kelly have been hit with fresh corruption findings and may face criminal charges after the state's corruption watchdog found they were involved in preparing a "deceptive" cabinet minute to benefit the Obeid family.

On Thursday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption released its long-awaited report on Operation Credo, its investigation into Obeid-linked company Australian Water Holdings.

[...]

The ICAC found Eddie Obeid snr and his ministerial allies Mr Tripodi and Mr Kelly were involved in preparing a deceptive cabinet minute to support AWH's push for a multimillion-dollar public-private partnership.

It recommended the DPP consider charging the men with misconduct in public office.

Obeid is already in jail for corruption, and there's a string of further charges still awaiting trial. But its not just him - two other NSW politicians have been convicted in the last decade, and the list from across Australia is long indeed. Australia's political culture suffers from pervasive corruption, with far too many politicians scumbags focused on lining their own pockets rather than serving the public who elected them. And the rot comes from the top: while most states have an independent anti-corruption body, the Federal Parliament has refused to create one for Federal politicians. Which suggests strongly that they have something to hide.

Australia needs to clean its act up and eliminate this culture of political corruption. Until it does, it can't be regarded as a decent country.